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Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken
"Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken" is the sixth episode of the fifth season of Game of Thrones. It is the forty-sixth episode of the series overall. It premiered on May 17, 2015. It was written by Bryan Cogman and directed by Jeremy Podeswa. Plot Arya trains. Jorah and Tyrion run into slavers. Trystane and Myrcella make plans. Jaime and Bronn reach their destination. The Sand Snakes attack. Summary In Braavos Arya continues her training with the Faceless Men. She cleans a corpse methodically, which is then taken away by two men. Arya is obviously curious about what is on the other side of the door through which the corpse was taken. Arya is about to walk through the door when the Waif obstructs her path and latches the door. Arya wants to know what happens to the bodies she scrubs clean, but the Waif tells her that she will know when the time is right. Frustrated at the lack of answers, Arya demands to play the game of faces. The Waif tells her that Arya has already tried playing the game but failed. She again asks Arya who she is, to which Arya replies that she is no one. The Waif simply tells Arya to get back to work is about to walk away, when Arya asks her who she is. The Waif tells Arya a story about how she was the only daughter of a widowed Lord, who remarried, producing another daughter. Her stepmother, in order to secure her own daughter’s future, tried to poison her. The Waif found out about this and sought out the help of the Faceless Men to exact her revenge. The Waif then asks Arya whether she believed the story, surprising Arya. When Arya doesn’t respond, embarrassed that she bought the Waif’s story, the Waif tells her to get back to work, hinting to Arya that to pass the game of faces, Arya must be able to lie convincingly. Later, when Arya is asleep, Jaqen H'ghar comes to test Arya again. This time, when he asks Arya who she is, Arya tells him how she came to join the Faceless Men, trying to slip in a few lies into the story. However, Jaqen is able to tell when Arya is lying and hits her with a switch whenever she does. Before he leaves, he tells her that she is lying not only to him, but to herself as well. .]] A grieving father brings his sickly daughter to the House of Black and White. He explains to Arya that he has been to every healer in Braavos and spent every penny he had. He tells her that his daughter is suffering and needs to find peace. Arya sits besides the girl and tells her a short false story, about how she was sick too, but her father bought her here and when she drank from the temple's well, she was healed. This persuading the sickly girl to drink the poisoned water from the well. The water gives the peace of death to the sickly girl, and Arya, having successfully proven that she can lie, is brought to the Hall of Faces with Jaqen H'ghar, a great underground chamber that houses thousands of faces. All the faces had been taken from the corpses that the acolytes wash in the temple. The Faceless Man then asks Arya if she is ready to give up who she is to become "no one". After a moment of silence, he then states that she is not ready to become "no one" (she is too attached to her past as a Stark), but that she is ready to become "someone else". In Slaver's Bay thumb|Jorah and Tyrion in Slaver's Bay On the western side of Slaver's Bay, Tyrion Lannister and Jorah Mormont are still making their way to Meereen (on the far opposite eastern side of the region) on foot, after losing their boat passing through the Smoking Sea and the ruins of Old Valyria. Tyrion is annoyed that they didn't find any villages to steal a boat or supplies from as Jorah had hoped, so they're slowly walking and only have berries and roots to eat. The topic of just why Tyrion was even in Volantis comes up, and Tyrion is surprised that Jorah did not ask earlier: he explains that he actually fled from Westeros because he killed his own father Tywin. He says he did it because his father tried to have him executed for a crime he didn't commit, and then he found his father screwing the woman he loved - Jorah nods, as this seems as likely a motivation for Kinslaying as any. Tyrion then says that despite how miserable he is now, at least he can say that he had a good father. Jorah asks how he could have known his father Jeor Mormont, but Tyrion explains he visited The Wall once and met him: he was a great leader who seemed to genuinely care about all of his men, a rare thing in the world, but now as the eulogy for Night's Watch members goes, "The world will not see his like again." Jorah is shocked to realize he means that his father is dead. Tyrion becomes apologetic and says he thought that Jorah knew already. Jorah asks how he died: Tyrion says he only knows the report he heard, which said that his father led an expedition beyond the Wall, but there was a mutiny, and Jeor was murdered by his own men. Jorah wordlessly processes this in silent grief, then changes the subject by saying they have to keep moving. As they walk, Tyrion asks why Jorah would support Daenerys Targaryen and how she would be better than any other rulers - or why Westeros would even support her, given that her father was the Mad King. Jorah explains that he never used to believe in things like destiny and was very cynical, but after seeing Daenerys emerge from the flames unharmed with baby dragons, he believes in her now, and the Iron Throne is hers by right. Tyrion remains skeptical that this doesn't automatically mean she will be a good queen, given that the Targaryens were famous for going insane, just like Daenerys's own father. Spotting a slaver ship in the distance, Jorah pulls Tyrion to the ground. However, the pair has already been spotted before they start hiding, and the slavers emerge from the trees behind them and take them captive. The lead slaver, Malko, intends to return to them back to their destination in Volantis. Tyrion, however, manages to successfully persuade him that Jorah is one of the most skilled knights in Westeros, and would fetch a better price being sold to the fighting pits in Meereen which have just reopened. Though not in the circumstances they hoped, Tyrion and Jorah are once again quickly heading towards Meereen and Queen Daenerys. In Dorne Bronn and Jaime approach the Water Gardens, wearing Martell disguises from the soldiers they killed. Bronn wonders what Jaime will do once they get inside and find Myrcella, to which Jaime replies that he likes to improvise; Bronn sarcastically remarks "That explains the golden hand." Meanwhile, Ellaria Sand and the Sand Snakes are already inside the Gardens; she sends them out to abduct Myrcella, telling them to do it "for Oberyn." Myrcella herself is enjoying another stroll with her betrothed Trystane Martell, Trystane's father Prince Doran Martell and his bodyguard Areo Hotah watch from above. Doran comments that they look lovely together, but that they don't realize how dangerous their betrothal is, and that he and Areo must protect them. Doran asks if Areo remembers how to uses his longaxe, and Areo assures him that he does. Jaime and Bronn infiltrate the Water Gardens and soon come upon Myrcella kissing Trystane. Jaime tries to convince Myrcella to come with him, but Trystane interferes, suspicious of the bloodstains on Bronn and Jaime's Dornish robes. When Trystane tries to draw his sword, Bronn quickly knocks him down, to Myrcella's horror. Jaime tries to lead her away, but they are suddenly attacked by the Sand Snakes. Bronn fights against Tyene and Nymeria, while Obara attacks Jaime with her spear, driving him away from Myrcella. Obara orders Nym to break away from Bronn and take Myrcella prisoner, but as Nym tries to pull her away, they are cut off by Areo and Prince Doran's guards, who surround them and force them all to drop their weapons. Jaime, Bronn, Ellaria and the Sand Snakes are all taken into custody. In King's Landing Petyr Baelish arrives in King’s Landing and is on his way to meet Cersei when he is confronted by Brother Lancel and some other Sparrows. Lancel warns Baelish that they have purged King's Landing of its corrupt ways, and the new King’s Landing will not tolerate his prostitution business. Baelish dismisses these threats. Cersei, meeting with Baelish, continues to deny her involvement in Loras Tyrell’s arrest by the Faith Militant. Baelish is not fooled and warns that House Tyrell will not tolerate this insult. Cersei claims that she is the insulted one since Ser Loras, who was promised to her, prefers the company of men – even Baelish seems slightly thrown that Cersei is playing that card. Cersei then gets to the reason for which she summoned Baelish; she is suspicious where his loyalties truly lie and asks him whether she can rely on the Knights of the Vale to fight for the Throne if the time comes. Baelish assures her that young Robyn heeds his advice and he will always counsel loyalty to the Throne. Baelish then reveals that Sansa is back in Winterfell, where Roose Bolton has arranged for her to marry Ramsay. Cersei is infuriated by the Boltons’ betrayal. To add fuel to the fire, Baelish adds that marrying the last remaining Stark gives the Boltons a stronger hold over the North than an alliance with a hated southern house. Baelish recommends that Cersei be patient and let the Boltons and Stannis, who is currently marching towards Winterfell, fight each other and when the victor is still recovering from the battle, step in and defeat him. He thinks that Cersei’s uncle Kevan Lannister could muster a force or even Jaime Lannister could lead an army to the North. Cersei contemptuously claims that her uncle doesn’t have the courage to lead an army, while Jaime is away on a “sensitive diplomatic mission.” Baelish proposes that the soldiers of the Vale could fight instead but Cersei is unsure of Baelish’s ability to lead an army. Baelish convinces her, stating that he "lives to serve". All Baelish wants in return is to be named Warden of the North. Cersei agrees to talk to the King about this. Olenna Tyrell returns to King’s Landing after learning of her grandson’s arrest. Olenna tries to talks Cersei down into releasing Loras. Cersei sticks to her claim that it was the Faith Militant who arrested Loras and she had nothing to do with it. Olenna warns Cersei that her actions have endangered the Lannister-Tyrell alliance – the very alliance that is supplying the capital with food. Cersei informs Olenna that the High Septon has called for a preliminary hearing to determine whether the charges against Loras have merit and expresses confidence that Loras will be acquitted. The High Sparrow interrogates Loras first who refutes the accusations against him. He then questions Margaery, who also denies any knowledge of it. The High Sparrow then calls in Olyvar, in character as Loras’s "squire", who claims that the accusations against Loras are in fact true. Olyvar also admits that Margaery walked in on them once, but didn’t seem surprised. To support his testimony, Olyvar tells the High Sparrow of a birthmark Loras has that is shaped like Dorne, much to Loras' shock and fury. Deciding that this is more than enough evidence for a trial, Loras is arrested. Since Margaery bore false witness before the Gods, she is arrested too. As Margaery, who is forcefully dragged away, calls out for Tommen, the King watches on helplessly while Olenna sadly regards Cersei's barely contained smug expression. In the North At Winterfell, Sansa is joined by Myranda in her room. She requests to help Sansa take a bath, so she is presentable to Ramsay during the wedding. While she is washing Sansa's back, Myranda mentions the many girls Ramsay has been with, how they all bored him after a while and how Ramsay then victimised them. Knowing that Myranda is trying to frighten her, she coldly counters by calling her relationship with Ramsay out, and mentioning that no one can frighten her in her own home. Later, when Theon comes to fetch Sansa for the wedding, she refuses to hold Theon’s arm, even after he pleads her to, saying that Ramsay will punish him if she doesn’t. Reek then gives Sansa away to Ramsay, and they wed in front of the Godswood. After retreating to the bedroom, Ramsay asks Sansa to take her clothes off. Reek is about to leave but Ramsay tells him he must stay. Ramsay quips to Reek:, "You grew up with her as a girl, now watch her become a woman." Annoyed by Sansa's hesitance, he pushes her face-down over the side of the bed and angrily rips open the back of her dress. As he unbuckles his clothes, Sansa obediently remains still but begins crying softly. Reek is visibly distraught and begins silently crying himself, as Ramsay proceeds to roughly consummate their marriage. Appearances :Main: Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken/Appearances First * Joss * Ghita * Malko Deaths * Ghita Production Cast Starring * Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister * Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Ser Jaime Lannister * Lena Headey as Queen Mother Cersei Lannister * Aidan Gillen as Lord Petyr Baelish * Natalie Dormer as Queen Margaery Tyrell * Indira Varma as Ellaria Sand * Maisie Williams as Arya Stark * Sophie Turner as Lady Sansa Stark * Jerome Flynn as Ser Bronn * Alfie Allen as Theon "Reek" Greyjoy * Michael McElhatton as Lord Roose Bolton * Iwan Rheon as Ramsay Bolton * Tom Wlaschiha as Jaqen H'ghar * Dean-Charles Chapman as King Tommen Baratheon *with Iain Glen as Ser Jorah Mormont Guest Starring * Diana Rigg as Lady Olenna Tyrell * Jonathan Pryce as the High Sparrow * Alexander Siddig as Prince Doran Martell * DeObia Oparei as Captain Areo Hotah * Keisha Castle-Hughes as Obara Sand * Rosabell Laurenti Sellers as Tyene Sand * Jessica Henwick as Nymeria Sand * Finn Jones as Ser Loras Tyrell * Will Tudor as Olyvar * Eugene Simon as Lancel * Faye Marsay as The Waif * Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Malko * Toby Sebastian as Prince Trystane Martell * Nell Tiger Free as Princess Myrcella Baratheon * Charlotte Hope as Myranda * Elizabeth Webster as Walda Bolton * Michael Yare as Slaver 1 * James McKenzie Robinson as Joss * Hattie Gotobed as Ghita Cast notes * 15 of 27 cast members for the fifth season appear in this episode. * Starring cast members Emilia Clarke (Daenerys Targaryen), Kit Harington (Jon Snow), Stephen Dillane (Stannis Baratheon), Liam Cunningham (Davos Seaworth), Carice van Houten (Melisandre), Conleth Hill (Varys), John Bradley (Samwell Tarly), Hannah Murray (Gilly), Michiel Huisman (Daario Naharis), Nathalie Emmanuel (Missandei), Gwendoline Christie (Brienne of Tarth) and Kristofer Hivju (Tormund Giantsbane) are not credited and do not appear in this episode. Notes *This episode takes its title from the motto of House Martell of Dorne: "Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken", which refers to the fact that Dorne is the only one of the Seven Kingdoms never to be successfully conquered by outsiders. When the Targaryens conquered the rest of the Seven Kingdoms three centuries ago, the Dornish were able to resist them by resorting to guerrilla warfare, harassing Targaryen armies in their deserts until they withdrew. The Martells only united with the Iron Throne one century ago, but through a voluntary marriage-alliance on equal terms. This naming choice is similar to how the first episode of Season 1 was named "Winter is Coming", after the House words of the Starks, and the Season 1 finale was named "Fire and Blood", after the words of House Targaryen. *The Night's Watch and The Wall do not appear in this episode, nor do House Baratheon (though Stannis Baratheon and his followers departed from the Wall last episode). Meereen and Daenerys Targaryen do not appear in this episode (though other characters do discuss Stannis and Daenerys). Brienne of Tarth does not appear in this episode (she was last seen in the winter town outside of Winterfell castle). House Greyjoy has not appeared so far this season. *This episode marks the first full introduction of Trystane Martell and the reintroduction of Myrcella Baratheon after she left King's Landing in Season 2 (and the role was recast with actress Nell Tiger Free). They both first appeared four episodes ago in "The House of Black and White" but had no significant dialogue. **For the first time, this episode also indirectly explains how Myrcella has been doing for the past three years. Back in Season 2, Cersei was outraged that Myrcella was being sent away to forge a marriage-alliance with Dorne, saying it was selling her like a common whore, just as she was sent away by her father into her miserable marriage to Robert Baratheon. In Season 4, Cersei assumed that Myrcella was a glorified prisoner surrounded by enemies, even though Oberyn said she was laughing and playing with his younger daughters in the Water Gardens. As it so happened, while their match was arranged, both Myrcella and Trystane fell madly in love with each other, proverbial star-crossed lovers from rival Houses. Myrcella has actually been having a rather enjoyable time in Dorne since she was last seen in Season 2. *The religion of the Old Gods of the Forest simply has no clergy or priesthood whatsoever, explaining why Roose Bolton officiates the ceremony himself. In the Faith of the Seven, marriages are officiated by a Septon or Septa, such as when Tommen and Margaery married earlier this season. As presented here, the ceremony seems relatively simple, with the bride and groom exchanging brief vows officiated by the groom's father - though it isn't clear if this is a rule, or if Roose happened to be the one to officiate in this instance. **Closer inspection of Sansa's wedding gown reveals that she is actually wearing her mother Catelyn's House Tully trout-sigil pins. She must have found them wherever her mother stored other ones in the castle. **In the first novel, Sansa is 11 years old, but she was aged-up to be 13 in Season 1 of the TV series. Also, time moves more slowly in the TV continuity (at the rate of one year per TV season), so that about four years have passed by Season 5 - making Sansa around 17 to 18 years old at this point in the TV series. In the novels, the legal age of majority in Westeros is 16, though girls are often married off younger than this (as Sansa was to Tyrion) if they have flowered already. The TV series has Samwell Tarly make some comments which imply that the legal age of majority in the TV version was also increased by two years, to 18 years old. **A point brought up between Ramsay and Sansa on their wedding night is the status of her virginity - she tells him the truth, that Tyrion was kind and gentle that he wouldn't force her to consummate the marriage (he was disgusted that his father forced him to marry her). TV-first viewers might be confused why Ramsay wouldn't simply be able to tell if Sansa was still a virgin when he had sex with her for the first time, breaking her hymen (called a "maidenhead" in the books). The novels actually give some extra cultural background about this - Cersei around this time ponders making the accusation that Margaery isn't a virgin anymore, but realizes this would be impossible to prove: because girls from noble families in Westeros spend so much time riding Horses for basic transport, almost none of them have intact hymens by the time they marry. The husbands of noble-born girls usually just have to take them at their word that they are virgins. *The Faith of the Seven believes that homosexuality is a sin, but not a very severe one, on par with adultery or having sex with prostitutes. Olenna Tyrell somewhat highlights this in the episode itself when she is talking with Margaery and in disbelief that this is anything more than a stunt by Cersei to shame them, because it is highly unusual to outright put Loras on trial for something as comparatively trivial as homosexuality - it is somewhat like if Robert Baratheon were suddenly put on trial by the Faith for being a whore-monger. The Sparrows and the Faith Militant, however, are fanatics with an extremist view of the religion. **The Faith also doesn't normally have the right to hold its own ecclesiastical courts - that was one of the powers it lost when the Targaryens disbanded the Faith Militant over two centuries ago. When Cersei had the Faith Militant recreated, she also granted the High Sparrow the power to hold ecclesiastical trials for things such as adultery and homosexuality. *Loras Tyrell is described as "the heir to Highgarden". Loras and Margaery actually have to older brothers in the novels, Willas and Garlan. Margaery is also the fourth and youngest Tyrell child, but because actress Natalie Dormer is older than Finn Jones, the TV-version of Margaery is officially older (this affects little, due to the male-preference inheritance system in all of the Seven Kingdoms except for Dorne). The TV series has been deliberately ambiguous about the status of Willas and Garlan - they actually were listed in the official HBO family trees in Season 1, but were subsequently omitted, and have never been referred to otherwise. The producers seem to be strongly leaning to the position that they simply don't exist in the TV continuity - though they have avoided outright stating this. It is similar to how in Season 2 the writers were careful to say that Stannis Baratheon has "no sons", because they were not sure if they would later be able to introduce his daughter Shireen, and wanted to keep their options open. In Season 3's "The Climb", Olenna has a long conversation with Tywin (invented for the TV series) in which he threatens to name Loras to the Kingsguard, who foreswear all claim to inheritance when they join. The conversation heavily implied that the only Tyrell heirs would be through Loras or Margaery - if Loras couldn't inherit, they said the Tyrells' only heirs would be Margaery's Lannister children with Joffrey. This ignores the detail from the novels that even without their other two sons, there are numerous minor Tyrell cousins. Whatever the case, even that scene between Olenna and Tywin never stated in as many words that "Loras and Margaery have no brothers". Similarly, in this episode he is called the heir to Highgarden, but the writers avoided directly stating that Mace Tyrell has no other sons. If Loras is "the heir" that means that he is at least the eldest son in the TV continuity, but there is room to plausibly say that he has younger brothers. Or perhaps Willas could be introduced as a cousin. Even so, for the moment, Willas and Garlan do not exist in the TV continuity, and it seems strongly implied that Loras is an only son. *Littlefinger's goals remain unclear in the TV series, given that it is heavily condensing the narrative from the books. In the novels, his plan was to have Sansa marry the heir to the Vale, then after slowly poisoning Sweetrobin to death, have her urge the fresh armies of the Vale to retake the North from the Boltons - apparently leaving her as his grateful puppet ruling over both the North and the Vale. Doing so would openly turn against the Lannisters, but he explains to Sansa that he considers them to be a spent force, too busy intriguing against the Tyrells to risk sending their few remaining armies to the far side of Westeros. In the TV series, Littlefinger explains to Sansa that he thinks Stannis will defeat the Boltons (he is an experienced military commander and the rest of the north would gladly turn on the Boltons to aid him): if Stannis wins, he will make Sansa the new ruler of the North, but on the chance that Stannis is killed, she will still be in a position to subvert the Boltons from within. The Boltons were also only willing to risk angering Cersei by marrying Sansa Stark because they are desperate to secure their hold over the North before Stannis's attack - meaning Sansa couldn't wait to marry Ramsay until after Stannis is defeated, it had to be before their confrontation. In this episode, Littlefinger outright tells Cersei about Sansa's marriage - in order to manipulate her into granting him permission to lead the Vale's armies to the North to defeat the Boltons. This way he can seize the North without openly turning on the Lannisters, which is what this action is going to mean in the novel version. Either way the Boltons lose. **The complication this introduces is that Cersei specifically demands that he present her with Sansa's head. It isn't clear if Littlefinger is outright willing to kill Sansa, given his obsession with her, or if he is just promising that to Cersei's face in order to placate her. If the latter case, it is possible that he intends to fake Sansa's death so he can have her in his possession again. Alternatively, he might just be lying to Cersei's face to buy time - after the Vale's armies secure the North, he might just openly renege on his agreement to kill Sansa, because as in the novels, he considers the Lannisters to be a spent force in no shape to oppose him after he already possesses both the Vale and the North (given that they are bankrupt, their armies half-exhausted, and the challenges they face from the Tyrells, Martells, and Greyjoys). Cersei was going to find out about Littlefinger's betrayal sooner or later: in the novels, it would be sooner, once she heard that the Vale's armies had begun to invade the North, and she would have more time to react against it with Lannister armies. Telling Cersei about Sansa now but feigning that he was uninvolved will serve to delay her eventual retaliation. *Notice that Olenna Tyrell's costume has subtlely changed: costumer designer Michele Clapton developed the detail that back in Seasons 3 and 4, House Tyrell was "playing nice" with the Lannisters, so instead of wearing bold green and gold colors, their costumes actually used more of a softer teal color, to give them a more gentle appearance. Once Margaery is officially Tommen's new Queen, however, the Tyrells no longer pretend to be getting along with the Lannisters, and start openly demanding concessions. As a result, the Tyrells are literally revealing their "true colors", and they switch from softer teals to darker greens and are more liberal with the amount of gold fabric they wear. Margaery has actually been dressing this way for much of the season, but the difference is more obvious with Olenna's costume. See "Costumes: The Seven Kingdoms - The Reach". **This is the first episode in which the infamous nickname of Olenna Tyrell, "the Queen of Thorns", is mentioned on-screen. **As Olenna's wheelhouse is approaching King's Landing, she remarks that you can smell the shit five miles away. This is no mere throwaway line: numerous times in the novels, characters remark on how bad the air in King's Landing smells, how overcrowded and filthy it is. It is a city of half a million people but was quickly constructed as the new Targaryen capital city and grew haphazardly as a boomtown without much careful urban planning, leading to smelly slum districts such as Flea Bottom. As an audio-visual medium, the TV series can't often convey smells as well as descriptions in the novels can. **Olenna's wheelhouse is accurately depicted as traveling up the Roseroad from the south side of the Blackwater River, opposite from King's Landing on the north side. *Cersei's scene with Olenna in the Tower of the Hand parallels the scenes in Season 3 during which Tywin was Hand of the King and dismissively met with supplicants. In episode 3.1 "Valar Dohaeris", Tyrion came to ask him about his inheritance, while Tywin was dismissive of him by continuing to write a letter and only half-paying attention to him at first. In episode 3.4 "And Now His Watch is Ended", he used the same routine on Cersei when she came to ask about inheriting his legacy, continuing to write a letter. Olenna also came to meet him there in episode 3.6 "The Climb", but in contrast, she was able to respond to Tywin's intimidation on almost equal footing (though he outmaneuvered her by the end). **In-universe, Olenna herself realizes that Cersei is trying to imitate the intimidation routine that Tywin used in these past episodes - but also notes to her face that she is imitating it badly. She would know, given than of the three people who met with Tywin, Olenna was the only one who wasn't totally dominated in the conversation. To begin with, Tywin was shown to be actually writing and then sealing real letters - while Olenna points out that Cersei is blatantly not actually writing anything, just randomly scratching with her pen. Olenna then bluntly points out that the Lannisters rely on the Tyrells' support of soldiers, gold, and food now: whereas Tywin would have cultivated several cunning strategies as leverage against his enemies, Cersei's entire plan seems to be just to take petty enjoyment in harassing her own badly-needed allies, with no thought to the consequences. Even assuming that Cersei did succeed in lowering the power of the Tyrells at court, it only drives away allies she desperately needs - as highlighted two episodes ago, the Lannisters are bankrupt and the Tyrells are their only major remaining source of money with which they can even hope to pay off their massive debts to the Iron Bank of Braavos. They also need Tyrell armies to enforce their rule, particularly now that Stannis Baratheon is mounting a new offensive to free the North from Lannister-Bolton control. Olenna is left aghast at Cersei's smug self-satisfaction, when in truth she isn't implementing some sort of successful long-term master strategy. As Tywin himself pointed out in "And Now, His Watch Is Ended", one of Cersei's major flaws is that she thinks she is much smarter than she actually is. *This episode marks the debut of the ribald song The Dornishman's Wife. Bronn keeps insisting on getting to the last verse because it is actually the punchline to an obscene joke. The subject of the song keeps praising the beauty of the Dornishman's wife while describing what a dangerous fighter the Dornishman is; ultimately the Dornishman challenges him to a duel and he is mortally injured, but as he lies dying he tells his companions that he is unconcerned, for while the Dornishman has taken his life, he has "tasted" the Dornishman's wife. *Viewers have been warned that "Winter is Coming" since the Season 1 premiere, and the ten year long summer turned into autumn back at the beginning of Season 2. The end of autumn is indeed finally approaching: in previous episodes, both Stannis and his enemies have pointed out that he will have to march on Winterfell soon, because if he waits a matter of weeks he would risk getting snowbound at the Wall. Cersei says to Littlefinger in this episode that the weather has started to turn. Seasons in The Known World that Westeros and Essos are located in can last for years, compared to the months in real life. Tyrion said back in Season 1 that the winter he was born in lasted three years, which is considered unusually long, and in the past three decades or so there have only bee nine winters including that one. Ten year long seasons are very rare, usually occurring only once every century - Pycelle said that the recent ten year long summer was the longest in living memory. Note the distinction that a single season can last over three years, not the full four-season cycle, which is even longer. The seasons are longer in Westeros but when they turn it isn't like someone simply flipped a switch and the seasons change without warning. Much like on real life Earth, people can tell that a season is gradually starting to shift into the next one - though the rate at which this occurs in Westeros can be difficult to determine. While it is not officially winter yet, the weather is starting to get noticeably cooler (compare to November in the Northern Hemisphere: it is not technically winter but the weather is getting colder). It is known to snow in the North even during summers from time to time (light dustings called "summer snows", mentioned in Season 1). In this episode, it is lightly snowing in the North - though this is not very unusual for that location. In contrast, younger people in southern Westeros have never even seen it snow. *The backstory that The Waif tells Arya about herself doesn't exactly match how her backstory is given in the novels, although it is relatively close - but then again, the Waif does strongly imply to Arya that she was lying about several details of her story. *Tyrion remarks that Daenerys Targaryen "has not spent a single day of her adult life in Westeros". His use of exact phrasing is accurate: Daenerys never spent a day of her adult life in Westeros. She was born on Dragonstone island at the end of Robert's Rebellion, a few months after her father died, and the island is considered part of Westeros. A matter of days or weeks later, a hastily assembled rebel fleet was finally advancing on the island, so a loyal knight fled with the royal children to the Free Cities. Therefore, Daernerys has absolutely no memories of Dragonstone or Westeros at all. Back in Season 2 at Qarth, the Spice King even directly asked if she had ever even been in the Seven Kingdoms, and she explained that she left there when she was a baby. *It is no empty boast that Jorah is one of the most skilled knights in Westeros: in his youth, he was actually quite a successful tournament knight. This is assuming that the backstory is the same as in the novels, and the TV series didn't change it to have Tyrion being facetious (there is no reason to think this). Jorah's tournament victories are how he impressed Lynesse Hightower to wed him (though she later left him due to his lack of wealth). The "Tourney at Lannisport" isn't something Tyrion made up on the spot: after the Greyjoy Rebellion ended, King Robert Baratheon held a tournament in celebration of the victory. Jorah himself performed very well during that war and was knighted by Robert himself. Tyrion is also not inventing the detail that Jorah even defeated Jaime Lannister that day - he didn't unhorse him, but he did break nine lances against Jaime at the joust, after which the judges declared him the winner (Jaime was one of the best tournament knights alive but he wasn't invincible; in Season 1 the TV show mentioned that Loras also surprisingly managed to defeat him on one occassion). Jorah's passion for Lynesse was so great at the tournament that he personally defeated at least seven men (including Jaime and Lord Yohn Royce). As the episode acknowledges, of course, this was all when Jorah was much younger - but much like Ser Barristan Selmy, he is a very experienced and skilled fighter. He also mentions how he fought and killed the Dothraki bloodrider Qotho back in Season 1. **Tyrion doesn't tell Jorah that his father is dead in the novels, and how he died. During the Battle of the Fist of the First Men, Sam sends two messages by ravens to Castle Black and the Shadow Tower, reporting that the ranging force is under attack (without specifying who the attackers are). The defenders of Castle Black, fearing that the ranging force has been destroyed by the Wildlings, send distress messages to all kings and lords at Westeros. Pycelle brings one of those messages to the Small Council, and that way Tyrion is aware that Jeor Mormont is probably dead - although Mormont is killed later, and not by Wildlings but by the mutineers at Craster's Keep. Only after the Loyalists return to Castle Black, about in the middle of the book (long before Jon and Sam return), they report that Mormont was killed by the mutineers - but the defenders do not send any more reports to the Small Council, thus all Tyrion could tell Jorah was that his father was probably dead, killed by Wildlings. The third novel is very long so the TV series split it into two seasons of material, Season 3 and Season 4. The TV series used the Battle of Castle Black as the climax of Season 4, and it happened at the end of the third novel - but due to the way the content was split, both Jon and Samwell return to Castle Black by the Season 3 finale. The result was that the Night's Watch storyline had to be padded out in Season 4, because in the novels the battle occurred very soon after they returned (the equivalent of if the battle happened in the second or third episode of Season 4, not episode nine). Samwell is shown writing letters to all of the high lords of Westeros in the Season 3 finale, warning them that the White Walkers have returned and that Lord Commander Mormont is dead (only Stannis responded to help). Tyrion is only arrested some weeks afterwards when Joffrey is poisoned at the Purple Wedding. Due to the way the scenes were moved around, therefore, in the TV version it is entirely plausible that Tyrion actually received news of Jeor Mormont's death from one of Samwell's letters, shortly before Joffrey's wedding (i.e. around the time of the first episode of Season 4). Sansa's wedding night scene with Ramsay *While the storylines with the Boltons in the North and Sansa Stark in the Vale are related in the novels, the TV series made a major condensation by having Sansa actually marry Ramsay Bolton. In the novels, Sansa marries Sweetrobin Arryn's cousin and heir Harrold Hardyng, while Ramsay marries a Northern girl taken prisoner and passed off as Arya - actually, Sansa's best friend Jeyne Poole, missing and presumed dead since Joffrey's coup at the end of the first novel. Jeyne was kept sexually enslaved in one of Littlefinger's brothels in the intervening years (apparently just out of Baelish's petty cruelty), then sent to the Boltons because, given that she grew up alongside the Stark girls in Winterfell, she could plausibly pass herself off as Arya when asked questions about the castle. **Ramsay's treatment of Jeyne Poole on their wedding night is horrific even by Ramsay's standards. Much of it is only implied, but Jeyne is left a horrified shell weeping so loudly at his abuse that much of the rest of the castle can hear it - Roose gets annoyed at this, because the guests in the castle are major Northern lords, and Ramsay is oblivious to how much he is infuriating all of them with his psychotic behavior. At one point Ramsay has Reek "warm up" Jeyne by performing oral sex on her, meant to humiliate both of them (this is the second time it is heavily implied in the novel that Ramsay castrated him). Reek dares not resist because he knows that Ramsay will severely punish both of them if he does (i.e. start cutting off fingers from both of them). It is heavily implied that Ramsay forced Jeyne to have sex with one of his hunting dogs for his own sick amusement, threatening to cut off her feet one at a time if she didn't. **In contrast, Ramsay's wedding night with Sansa Stark in the TV version was relatively toned down. He made Reek stay in the room to watch to humiliate them both, and Sansa is crying and clearly not enjoying what is happening, but he isn't doing everything he did to Jeyne in the novels (which would have probably been outright unfilmable, even by implication). **Westeros has no concept of sexual abuse within marriage, and most marriages among the nobility are not made for love but to secure political alliances. As in the real-life Middle Ages, once a woman is married her husband has the right to sexual access to her - particularly on their wedding night - and moreover, the woman is aware of this and that she doesn't really have viable options to deny him. That is, Ramsay has sex with Sansa and she is crying, but she isn't fighting him off - she knew the marriage would entail this (indeed, Littlefinger instructed her to basically seduce Ramsay). This is comparable to aspects of Cersei Lannister's marriage to Robert Baratheon: Cersei quickly grew to loathe Robert, but she never outright denied him sexual access to her - simply because she had no real options. Her father had commanded her to marry Robert to secure a political alliance, so she couldn't complain to Tywin about how Robert was treating her. Neither Cersei nor Robert would say that he ever "raped" her (particularly if she wasn't actively fighting him off), given that by definition in Westeros rape cannot legally occur between a husband and wife; similarly, neither Ramsay nor Sansa would describe their wedding night as "rape" in their understanding of the term, nor that he "forced" himself on her. "Rape" does occur within marriage in Westeros in the physical sense that a wife resists her husband throughout the sexual encounter (though this is not legally considered rape) - the young Jaime Lannister was horrified when he had to stand guard outside the Mad King Aerys II Targaryen's bedchambers as he raped his wife Queen Rhaella, fighting him every moment as he bit her and clawed at her. Sansa is disgusted to be having sex with Ramsay, but she is passively going along with it (in contrast with Jeyne Poole's torment in the novels). *Even if the episode specifically Sansa as consenting on her wedding night with Ramsay, she is still crying and afraid of him now - unlike even the preceding episode, in which he was trying to frighten her in the dinner scene but she kept her composure (and even grinned smugly when Roose denigrated him). Fundamentally, in the novels Sansa's storyarc in the Vale is an advancement of her character: she is no longer a victim but a confident force in her own right. Jeyne Poole in the novels, in contrast, is purely a frightened victim. Their character arcs go in completely separate directions and cannot be easily superimposed over each other. Even if Sansa didn't have sex with Ramsay at all and they just remained betrothed at Winterfell, Sansa is now being presented as a crying, frightened captive again - which is a step backwards in her character arc. *The wedding night scene between Sansa and Ramsay met with very negative reaction from professional critics. Many described it as a rape scene - or, pointed out that even if the characters wouldn't call it rape in their culture, from a narrative perspective it was still so unsettling to viewers that it was functionally a rape scene to the audience. Others criticized how drastically it was altering Sansa's character arc - even if it wasn't "rape" in as many words, Sansa shifts from being the resourceful prisoner of Littlefinger or the Boltons getting by on her inner strength, to once again a crying and distraught hostage. Several also pointed out that it was the last in a long string of criticisms about Benioff and Weiss including violence against women in the TV series that isn't even in the novels (having Joffrey threaten and later kill Ros, threatening Meera Reed with rape, etc.) - and particularly, the controversy over how Benioff and Weiss handled The Jaime/Cersei sex scene in "Breaker of Chains". From all evidence it seems that the writers did not intend to portray Jaime raping Cersei, the camerawork in that scene was simply very confusing, but afterwards they were so afraid of drawing further criticism that they simply avoided making any clear statement about it, even avoiding making Blu-ray commentary for the episode (after several months, the actors did eventually say that they never received any instructions from the writers or their script implying that they wanted it to be a rape scene). Therefore, despite being faced with that major controversy during Season 4, and facing general criticisms for invented scenes of sexual assault or threatened assault in the past four Seasons, Benioff and Weiss were planning since the early writing stages of Season 2 to put Sansa in such a frightening position for viewers again **Writer Bryan Cogman said that Sansa is not intended to simply be a victim in her wedding night with Ramsay. Rather, she consciously chose to take part in the repugnant marriage for the long-term goal of retaking the North: "This isn't a timid little girl walking into a wedding night with Joffrey. This is a hardened woman making a choice and she sees this as the way to get back her homeland."[ http://www.ew.com/article/2015/05/17/game-thrones-sansa-ramsay-interview ] Therefore Sansa knew that she would have to let Ramsay have sex with her on their wedding night and chose to take part in Littlefinger's plan anyway, because having sex with Ramsay and being his wife will allow her to destroy the Boltons from within. In the books : See: Differences between books and TV series - Season 5#Unbowed,_Unbent,_Unbroken * The episode is adapted from the following chapters of A Feast for Crows: ** Chapter 2, The Captain of the Guards: In fear that Obara, Nym and Tyene will draw Dorne into a war against the Lannisters, Prince Doran commands Areo Hotah to imprison the Sand Snakes and Ellaria. ** Chapter 21, The Queenmaker: On Doran’s orders, Areo puts a stop to the plot to use Princess Myrcella to spark a war. ** Chapter 22, Arya II: The Faceless Man warns Arya that the Many-Faced God will take all her body parts, and her hopes and dreams and loves and hates as well. He wonders if Arya can allow that, yet answers for her —he doesn't believe she can. The Waif teaches the lying game to Arya. ** Chapter 34, Cat of the Canals: While playing the lying game, the Waif lies about her background and asks Arya if she can spot the lies, and encourages Arya to try and do the same. ** Chapter 39, Cersei IX: Cersei forces an entertainer to admit to sleeping with an accused Tyrell. ** Chapter 43, Cersei X: Cersei conspires for the Faith Militant to imprison Queen Margaery, who is set to stand trial. * The episode is adapted from the following chapters of A Dance with Dragons: ** Chapter 37, The Prince of Winterfell: Before the heart tree in the Godswood, Reek gives Ramsay’s “Stark” bride away during the wedding ceremony. Later, during the bedding, Ramsay rapes his new wife and forces Reek to watch. ** Chapter 38, The Watcher: Cersei’s Kingsguard arrives in Doran’s court. ** Chapter 40, Tyrion IX: On their way to Meereen, Tyrion and Jorah are spotted by slavers. ** Chapter 47, Tyrion X: Tyrion and Jorah are captured by slavers, to be sold in Meereen and perform in its fighting pits, which they learn Queen Daenerys has reopened. Tyrion convinces their captors of his and Jorah's usefulness. ** Chapter 67, The Ugly Little Girl: The Faceless Man tells Arya she must don a new face and identity, and so he leads her down to the Hall of Faces, a hidden room where the walls are covered with the faces of those who die at the temple. Gallery Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken 02.jpg Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken 01.jpg MyrcellaSeason5.jpg Hotah-5x06-Promo.jpg References